Around the end of the 1990s, BN Historians, had been
considering the idea of preserving,
hopefully in flying condition, the earliest Islander in existence. We knew that
serial number 003 sat at Isla Grande Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico, since
being withdrawn from use in 1997. This was the oldest surviving Islander, as
numbers 1 & 2 were no longer extant.

Thankfully someone else had the same
idea: Peter Graham, who owned the aviation finance company, Airstream
International Group. He also had plans to recover the 3rd Islander, and was
prepared to put an amount of financial backing behind the project. So, during
1999 a plan was formulated to go to Puerto Rico and bring back Islander 003, "Charlie
November". (The name Charlie November comes from the last two letters of
her UK registration markings G-AVCN).

We then set up BNAPS: Britten-Norman Aircraft Preservation Society
as a Registered Charity, No. 1100735, to "preserve the history and
aircraft of Britten-Norman with the support of members".